Machine for forming sheet-metal articles



PATENTED JAN.26, 1904.

H. L. BRADLEY.

MACHINE FOR FORMING SHEET METAL ARTICLES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 16, 1903.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1- N0 MODEL.

INVENTOR.

VVITNESSES. q,q. OQMWZJ.

THE NORRYS PETERS o0. PHOYO-LITHQ, MsHmsTON, n. c.

PATENTED JAN. 26, 1904.

H. L. BRADLEY.

MACHINE FOR FORMING SHEET METAL ARTICLES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 16, 1903.

4 SHEETSSHEET 2.

lNVENTOR.

no MODEL.

WTNESSES.

EPS co. PHOTO-L T PATENTED JAN. 26, 1904,

H. L. BRADLEY. V MACHINE FOR FORMING SHEET METAL ARTICLES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 16, 1903. v

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

N0 MODEL.

INVENTOR.

WITNESSES.-

1m: uonms PETERS PATENTED JAN. 26, 1904.

H. L. BRADLEY. MACHINE FOR FORMING SHEET METAL ARTICLES.

APPLIOATION FILED FEB. 16, 1903.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

H0 MODEL.

INVENTOR.

WITNESSES. 7g 94., M

Xy/ awa UNITED STATES Patented January 26, 1904.

HENRY L. BRADLEY, OF NEl/V HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

IVIACHlNE FOR FORMING SHEET-METAL ARTICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 750,581, dated January 26, 1904.

Application filed February 16,1903. Serial No. 1 23,498- No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY L. BRADLEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at New Haven, county of New Haven, State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Machine for Forming Sheet-Metal Articles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the forming of blanks into rounded shapessuch, for example, as spoons. Heretofore, so far as I am aware, spoons and similar articles have almost universally been formed one end atatime by means of a drop-hammer, it having been found impracticable to form the entire blank at one stroke by the use of a press on account of the difiiculty of holding the blanks while forming the curved portion of the articles.

It is one of the objects of this invention to provide a forming-machine for spoons and similar articles that shall utilize the principle of the cam-press in lieu of the drop-hammer, and thereby avoid the various objections to the use of the latterfor example, the danger to the dies that is unavoidable when the hammer comes down and there is no blank in placethat will greatly reduce the cost of the articles, owing to a great increase in the rate of production and to the fact that a cam-press, unlike a drop-hammer, does not require a fullgrown man or a specially-skilled operator to work it, the operation of my novel machine being wholly automatic, no further attention being required than to keep the blank-holder supplied with blanks and all danger to the hands and fingers of the operator being avoided.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a machine for forming spoons and similar articles by means of cam or crank motions that shall be provided with two independent press-gates which act successively, one of the gates carrying a die which forms the handle and shank of the spoon and then holds the blank firmly in place while a die carried by the other gate is forming the rounded bowl of the spoon or a portion of any rounded article which may be difiicult to hold in place in an ordinary single-gate press.

lt is a further object of the invention to provide a machine for forming spoons and similar articles in which the blanks shall be automatically and accurately fed with great rapidity and shall be operated upon by a doublegated cam-press, thereby reducing the cost of manufacture by a greatly-increased rate of production, as well as by the great saving to the dies effected through the substitution of the easily-regulated stroke of the press for the sharp blow of a drop-hammer.

lVith these and other objects in view I have devised the simple and novel forming-machine of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, reference characters being used to indicate the several parts.

Figure 1 is a plan view of the machine complete; Fig. 2, a side elevation corresponding therewith; Fig. 3, an enlarged detail plan view of the dies and feeding mechanism, the blank-holder being in section on the line 3 3 in Figs. 4 and 5 and the plungers being omitted; Fig. 4., a detail vertical section on the line 6 a in Fig. 3 and the line 44 in Fig. 7, the feed-slides being in the retracted position; Fig. 5, a similar view showing the position of 'the parts after the feed-slides have removed a blank from the holder and carried it to the retaining-fingers; Fig. 6, a detail vertical section on the line 6 4: in Fig. 3 looking in the opposite direction from Fig. 4; Fig. 7, a section of the bed on the line 4 7 in Figs. 1 and 2, showing the feeding mechanism and the stationary die in elevation; and Fig. 8 is a detail view showing the movable dies in plan and the fixed die in hori- Zontal section on the line 8 8 in Fig. 7, one of the movable dies having moved forward from the retracted position as in Fig. 3 to the operative position, said die having formed the shank and handle of the spoon and now holding the blank firmly in position to be operated upon by the other movable die, which is about to move forward.

20 denotes the bed of the machine, 21 legs upon which it rests, and 22 the shaft, which is journaled on the bed. Power is applied to drive the machine by means of a belt (not shown) passing over a belt-wheel 23, which is mounted to turn loosely on the shaft and is blanks to be operated upon are placed in a blank-holder of any suitable construction to permit them to feed by gravity. In the present instance I have shown a blank-holder consisting of uprights 2?, which are rigidly bolted to the bed, are provided with ways 28, which receive the opposite ends of the blanks, and are connected together at the top by a cross-piece 29. For convenience in description I will indicate the blank-holder as a whole by and blanks by 31. Blanks are removed from the blank-holder singly by means of feed-slides 32, which are adapted to reciprocate in grooves in the bed and are retained in place by a plate 33, which is rigidly secured to the bed.

34 denotes the bearing-surfaces of the feedslides, which terminate rearwardly in shoulders 35, which are just the height of ablank. At the forward ends of the feed-slides are undercut recesses 66, which terminate rearwardly in shoulders 67, the overhanging lips of metal being indicated by 68. It will be noted in Fig. 3 that one of the undercut recessesthe one toward the bottom of the sheet-is deeper and the corresponding overhanging lip is longer than the other one. This is a detail of construction obviously made necessary by the greater width of the bowl end of the blanks, it being understood, of course, that the details of construction of the feed-slides must be made to correspond with the shape of the blanks to be fed.

69 denotes recesses on the outer sides of the feed-slides which extend backward from shoulders 35 and which receive the engaging portions of the rear retaining-fingers, as will presently be more fully explained. These recesses are, in fact, continuations rearward of the shoulders of bearing-surfaces 34.

The feed-slides are reciprocated by means of a feed-cam 36 on the shaft and intermediate connections, which I will now describe.

37 denotes a feed-lever pivoted in a bracket 38, which is itself bolted rigidly to the side of the bed. A roller 39 at the inner end of the feed-lever bears upon the feed-cam, with which it is held in engagement by means of a spring 40, one end of which rests in a socket in a bracket 41, which is cast upon or rigidly secured to the bed, the other end engaging a shoe 42, which itself engages the under side of the feed-lever on the opposite side of the pivotal point from the roller, thus keeping the roller in engagement with the cam.

43 denotes a rock-shaft j ournaled in brackets 44, which are themselves rigidly bolted to the end of the bed. This rock-shaft is provided with an arm 45, having a slot 46, and feed-lever 37 is provided with a slot 47.

48 denotes a link the ends of which are adjustably secured in slots 46 and 47 by means of bolts and nuts 49 or in any suitable manner.

50 denotes arms extending from rock-shaft 43 at an angle to arm and having forked upper ends, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2, one only of said arms being shown in the drawings. These forked arms engage pins 51, which are carried by blocks 52, through which feed-slides 32 pass and which are secured to the feed-slides after adjustment by means of set-screws 53 or in any suitable manner. It will be obvious from Fig. 2 that during each rotation of the shaft the feed-lever will be oscillated through its engagement with the feed-cam and that by means of the links and arm 45 the rock-shaft will be oscillated, which in turn, through arms and the blocks, will cause a reciprocation of the feedslides.

WV hen the feed-slides are in the retracted position, as in Figs. 3 and 4, shoulders 35 will be back of the ways. The blanks, which feed by gravity, drop down the instant the shoulders pass in the backward movement, as clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Vhen the forward movement of the feed-slides takes place, the lower blank is engaged by the shoulders, which just pass under the second blank, and carried forward from ways 28 in the blank-holder through ways 54 (see Figs. 3 to 6, inclusive) and under retaining-fingers 55 and 61, by which it is held until removed at the next forward movement of the feedslides, as will presently bemore fully explained. The two retaining-fingers on each side are shown as pivoted on screw-studs 56, which engage the bases 57 of uprights 27 or any fixed portions of the machine.

58 denotes spring-actuated plungers socketed in blocks 59, themselves rigidly secured to the uprights, the lower ends of which bear upon the retaining-fingers and keep them in operative position. The special shape of the retaining-fingers is of course not of the essence of the invention. The two fingers on each side are simply required to be so shaped as to hold the special form of blank that is being operated upon. I have shown the retaining-fingers as provided with engaging portions 81, which bear upon the blanks. The rear edges of these engaging portions are shown as beveled slightly, so that as the blanks are carried forward they will pass under and raise the fingers against the power of the spring-actuated plungers.

The ways 54 are formed in blocks 60, which are rigidly secured to the bed in any suitable manner. These ways curve downward and guide the blanks into position to be operated upon by the dies. die 62, which is rigidly secured in any suitable manner to a die-block 63, and operating in. connection therewith are movable dies 73 and 7 1, presently to be fully described. I have shown the descending portion of ways 54 as open in front (see Figs. 4 to 7, inclusive) and have shown in the fronts of said ways vertical spring-wires 64, which act to retain the blanks after they have been placed in position to be operated upon by the dies, as will be more fully explained. left-hand wire, as seen in Figs. 6 and 7, is anchored in the corresponding block 60, as at 75, the upper end lying in a slot 65, (see Figs. 3 and 6,) which permits said spring-wire to yield outward when a blank is forced downward. The upper end of the right-hand springwire is rigidly secured in the corresponding block 60, as by a screw 7 O, the lower end being left free and terminating just above a spring-actuated obliquely-moving block 71. This block lies in a socket 72 in the righthand block 60, as seen in Figs. 7 and 8. It will be noted in Fig. 7, in which the movable dies do not appear, that block 71 is at its extreme forward position and that it overlaps or passes before the tip of the handle end of the spoon. In Fig. 8, in which the right-hand movable die has moved forward, block 71 has been moved to its extreme retracted position and the end of the blank has been curved inward by the forward movement of said movable die.

It will of course be obvious that if figured work is to be raised upon the handle end. of spoons, as is frequently the case, great pressure must be exerted upon the die which forms that end. 1 therefore extend and enlarge that end of the die-in the present instance the right-hand die-as at 76, this extension lapping past the fixed die, as clearly shown in Fig. 8. When the right-hand movable die is retracted, as in Fig. 8, a spring 7 7, lying in socket 72 at the base of block 71, projects said block forward to the extreme of its movement, as in Figs. 1, 5, and 7, the outward movement of said block being limited in any suitable manner, as by a cross-pin 78, (see dotted lines, Fig. 8,) lying in a transverse slot in said block. It will be noted in Fig. 8 that socket 72, in which spring-block 71 is seated, lies at an angle to the line of movement of the righthand die, so that when said die is retracted said block will be projected inward obliquely toward the left, as seen in Fig. 8, causing said block to lap past a blank in position to be operated upon, as is clearly shown in Fig. 7. This is to insure that the tip of the handle end of the blank after passing below the right-hand spring-wire 6 1 will be retained in position to be operated upon by the right-hand movable die. The spring-block. forms, in fact, a guard to retain that end of the blank in p0sition,this function being performed for the opposite end of The lower end of the Between blocks 60 is a fixed the blank by the left-hand spring-wire 6 1, the

lower end of which is anchored, leaving the upper end free to vibrate in a slot, as has already been described. The downward movement of the blank in the feeding operation, presently to be more fully explained, continues until the ends of the blank are forced into longitudinal grooves 79 in the inner faces of blocks 60. (See more especially Figs. 7 and 8.) These grooves are made long enough to permit the ends of the blank to swing inward when subjected to the action of the movable dies, as will be obvious from Fig. 8.

8O denotes a rib at the left-hand end of the right-hand movable die, which may or may not be provided, the function of which is to form stiffening-ribs in the shanks of lightweight spoons.

Returning now to the feeding mechanism proper, it has been explained that the feedslides being in the retracted position when the forward movement takes place the lowest blank in the blank-holder is engaged by shoulders 35, carried forward from the blank-holder in ways 54 and placed under the front retaining-fingers, where it is left. The position of the-parts at the extreme of the forward movement of the feed-slides is clearly shown in Fig. 5. The blank as it is carried forward first lifts the rear retaining-fingers 55 and then the front retaining-fingers 61. The instant, however, that the blank passes from under the rear retaining-fingers 55 and under the front retaining-fingers 61 the spring-actuated plungers force the engaging portions 81 of the rear retaining-fingers downward into recesses 69 in the feed-slides and back of the blank, which prevents the possibility of the blank buckling or either end slipping backward. An instant later the backward movement of the feedslides takes place. It is impossible for the blank to be carried backward by the feedslides, owing to the engagement of the bearing portions of fingers 55 with the recesses 69 in the slides, said bearing portions now lying back of the blank, as shown in Fig. 5. Just at the rear edge of front retaining-fingers 61 ways 54 deepen the width of a blank, said deepened portions terminating rearwardly in a shoulder 82 in each way. (See Figs. 41. and 5.) In the latter figure it will be noted that the blank is resting upon the feed-slides, front retaining fingers 61 are resting upon the blank, and rear retaining fingers 55 have dropped down back of the blank. As soon as the feed-slides in the backward movement have passed out from under the blank the front retaining-fingers will press the blank down into the deepened portion of the ways in front of the shoulders 82, as will be readily understood from Figs. 4 and 6, which see in connection with Fig; 5. As the backward movement of the feed-slides continues shoulders 35 pass backward under the blank-holder and the lowest blank drops in front of said shoulders. The next forward movement of the feed-slides carries the second blank forward past the rear retaining-fingers, which are lifted thereby, and under the front retainingfingers, which are also lifted thereby, after which the rear retaining-fingers drop down back of the blank, this operation being a repetition of the operation performed upon the first blank. This second forward movement of the feed- -slide, however, in addition to carrying forward a second blank also engages and carries forward the first blank, which was lying in the deepened portion of the ways in front of shoulders 82. At this movement the first blank is engaged by the shoulders 67 at the rear ends of undercut recesses 66 and under the overhanging lips 68, which prevent the possibility of the blank rising. The first blank when moved forward the second time by the feed-slides passes into the downwardlycurved portion of ways 5 (see Fig. 5,) said ways being amply wide to permit blanks to pass freely around the curved portion, and drop down into the vertical portion, where they are held by the spring-wires 64:, this position of the first blank being clearly shown in Fig.5. l Vhile the feed-slides are moving backward the first blank while in the position shown in Fig. 5 is engaged by vertically-moving plungers 83, which reciprocate in guides 84, which are rigidly secured to uprights 27. These plungers may of course be reciprocated in any suitable manner. 1 have shown them as operated by means of a lever 85, which rocks on a rod 86, rigidly secured in brackets 87, themselves rigidly bolted to the bed. The lever is shown as having rigidly secured thereto a block 88, whichoscillates between collars 89, secured to the rod by set-screws or in any suitable manner. At the rear end of the lever is a roller 90, which engages a cam 91 on shaft 22. The front end of lever is bifurcated and the branches are pivoted to links 92, which are mounted to oscillate on a crosspiece 93, the ends of said cross-piece being adjustably secured to the plungers, as by means of yokes 94., the arms of which embrace the plungers and are clamped together by bolts and nuts 95. Roller is kept closely in engagement with cam 91 by means of a spring 96, one end of which is connected to lever 85, the other to a rod 97, which is rigidly secured to the bed, extends upward therefrom, and is curved over so that its upper end is directly over thelever. It is obvious that each rotation of the shaft, through the lever, links, cross-piece, 620., will produce a reciprocation of the plungers. The upper ends of the plungers are shown as connected by a cross-piece 98.

The parts of the machine are so timed that the plungers will descend, engage the blank when it is in the position shown in Fig. 5, carry it downward to the position shown in Fig. 4, where it is left, and return to the raised position during the return movement of the feed-slides, the plungers being at their raised position in ample time to prevent possible interference with the blanks while being oper: ated upon by the feed-slides and remaining there until the feed-slides have placed another blank in the position shown in Fig. 5that is, in position to be engaged by the plungers, which carry the blanks into position to be operated upon by the dies. It will be noted in Fig. 6 that the left hand spring-wire 64 is provided with an inwardly-extending bend or boss 99, the function of which is to press the tip of the bowl end of the blank into the groove 79 in the inner face of the left-hand block 60, the tip of the stem or handle end of the blank dropping into the groove 79 in the right-hand block 60 and back of the spring-actuated block 71, which will now be projected forward obliquely, as already described, and will lap past this end of the blank, as is clearly shown in Fig. 7. The blank is now lying over the fixed die in position to be formed, the ends of the blank lying in the grooves in the blocks where the lefthand end of the blank is retained by the boss 99 upon the left-hand spring-wire 64:, and the right-hand end of the blank is retained by the spring-actuated block 71.

The forming operation: This is avital part of the invention and is performed by two independently-acting cam-operated dies in connection with a fixed die, the dies being shown in the present instance as acting horizontally. Figs. 3, 4E, and 7 show the position of the parts when a blank is in position to be operated upon by the dies. Fig. 8 shows a position in which the right-hand movable die has moved forward, the extension 76 at the outer end of the die has engaged block 71 and forced it backward into its socket against the power of the spring, has curved the central portion of the blank inward to form the shank of the stem or handle, and has also curved the tip of the handle end inward to give it the desired contour. It will of course be obvious to those familiar with the art of forming articles from sheet metal that the diflicult part in fact, the heretofore impossible partof the operation of forming rounded articles, such as spoons, otherwise than by forming the ends separately by means of a drop-press has been the holding of the blank while the rounded portion of the article was being formed. by the employment of independently-moving dies, the die for forming the rounded portion of the spoon or other article not acting until after the other die has completed its action and is holding the blank firmly gripped between itself and the fixed die. The forward position of the left-hand die has not been illustrated, for the reason that its action will be obvious from Fig. 8. The left-hand die simply moves forward from the position shown in Figs. 3 and 8 after the right-hand die has This result I accomplish perfectly moved to the position shown in Fig. 8 and is stationary there, said movement of the lefthand die forming the rounded or bowl portion of the spoon or other article. The dies then return to the retracted position, as in Fig. 3, and a stripper 100 removes the spoon or other formed article from the stationary die and permits it to drop down into a suitable receptacle under the bed.

The right-hand movable die 73 (see Fig. 8 in connection with Fig. 1) is shown as carried by adie-bloek 101, which is itself rigidly secured to a gate 102, adapted to reciprocate in ways 103 on the bed, the right-hand way only appearing in the drawings. Gate 102 is shown as reciprocated by means of an eccentric-rod 104, connected to a strap 105, which incloses an eccentric on shaft 22. The lefthand movable die 74c is shown as carried by a die-block 106, which is itself rigidly secured to a gate 107, which slides in ways 108 on the bed, the left-hand way only appearing in the drawings. At the inner end of gate 107 is a roller 109, which engages a cam 110 on shaft 22. The parts are of course so timed as to produce the movements just described in their proper sequence.

Stripper 100 is shown as passing through cross-piece 93 and through a guide 112,which is formed integral with or rigidly secured thereto, and as operated by means of a lever 118, fulcrumed upon the bolt 95, that clamps the cross-piece to the right-hand plunger 83, the bolt being extended rearwardly and serving as a stud upon which the lever is mounted to oscillate. (See Fig. 7.) The inner end of the lever is connected to the stripper by means of a link 114 and the outer end is connected to a bracket 115, extending upward from the bed, by means of a link 116.

The operation of the stripper will be obvious from Fig. '7. The stripper commences to move downward with the plungers, but moves faster than the plungers and passes down considerably below the plungers, its function being to detach the formed spoon or other article from the stationary die and insure its dropping down out of the way of the blank that is being carried downward by the plungers into position to be operated upon by the dies. The stripper is made relatively thin and reciprocates in a vertical plane far enough back of the plungers to be entirely out of the way of the descending blank. In a machine of the type illustrated in the drawings the plunger is so located that it will engage the shank of the spoon that has been formed, the position of which will be readily understood from Fig. 8.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. In amachine of the character described, the combination with a blank-holder, of feedslides which reciprocate under the blankholder and are provided with shoulders the slides having blank-bearing surfaces in ad- Vance of said shoulders, of blocks having ways which receive the blank as it is carried forward by the feed-slides and spring-controlled retaining-fingers which retain each blank in the position in which it is left by the feed-slides.

3. In a machine of the character described the combination with a blank-holder and feedslides which remove blanks therefrom, of spring-controlled retaining-fingers which are raised by a blank as it is carried forward by the feed-slides and then drop behind the blank as it passes from under them, and other springeontrolled retaining-fingers which are raised by the blank as it is carried forward and remain in engagement therewith when the feedslides move backward.

4. In a machine of the character described the combination with a blank-holder and feedslides which remove blanks therefrom, of ways which receive the ends of the blanks and are provided with deepened portions terminating rearwardly in shoulders, spring-controlled retaining-fingers which are raised by a blank as it is carried forward by the feed-slides and then drop behind the blank as it passes from underthem, and other spring-controlled retaining-fingers which are raised by the blank as it is carried forward and press the blank downward in front of the shoulders in the ways when the feed-slides pass from under it in the backward movement.

5. In a machine of the character described the combination with a blank-holder and feedslides which remove blanks therefrom and are provided with bearing portions and recesses 69, of'ways which receive the blanks as they pass from the holder and retaining-fingers which retain each blank in the position to which it is carried by the feed-slides, said retaming-fingers being provided with engaging portions 81 which engage the blanks and also the bearing-surfaces and recessesof the feedslides.

6. In a machine of the character described the combination with a blank-holder and feedslides having at their forward ends undercut recesses terminating in shoulders 67, and bearing-surfaces terminating rearwardly in shoulders 35, of ways which receive the blanks from the holder and are provided with deepened portions terminating rearwardly in shoulders 82 and retaining-fingers 55 and 61, whereby when the feed-slides move forward the lowest blank in the holder is engaged by shoulders 35 and carried past fingers 55 which drop down behind it and under fingers 61 which press it down in front of shoulders 82 when the feed-slides move backward, the second forward movement of the feed-slides carrying a second blank to the position just described, the first blank being engaged by shoulders 67 and carried forward in the ways.

'7. In a machine of the character described the combinationwith a blank-holder and feedslides having at their forward ends undercut recesses with overhanging lips and terminating rearwardly in shoulders 67, and bearingsurfaces terminating rearwardly in shoulders 35, of ways which receive the blanks from the holder and are provided with deepened portions terminating rearwardly in shoulders 82, and retaining-fingers which retain the blank against backward movement and press it down in front of shoulders 82 when thefeed-slides move backward, the blank in the ways being engaged by shoulders 67 at the next forward movement of the feed-slides and again carried forward in the ways, the overhanginglips preventing the blank from rising or buckling.

' 8. In a machine of the character described the combinationwith a blank-holder and ways the forward ends of which curve downward, of retaining-fingers, feed-slides by which the lowest blank is removed from the holder and carried to the fingers and a blank at the fingers is carried forward into the descending portion of the ways, and plungers which engage the blank in the descending portion of the ways and place it in position to be operated upon.

9. In a machine of the character described the combination with a blank-holder and ways having deepened portions terminating rearwardly in shoulders 82, the forward ends of said ways curving downward, of feed-slides having shoulders and blank-bearing surfaces in front of said shoulders by which the lowest blank is removed from the holder and carried forward, and retaining-fingers which prevent the blank from moving backward with the feed-slides and press it down in front of the front ends of said slides and in front of shoulders 82, whereby a blank already in the position described will be carried forward by the feed-slides and into the descending portion of the ways.

10. In a machine of the character described the combination with a blank-holder and ways the forward ends of which curve downward, of feed-slides which remove blanks from the holder and carry them into the descending portion of the ways, spring-wires by which the blanks are held in the descending portion of the ways and plungers by which the blanks are carried into position to be operated upon.

11. In a machine of the character described the combination with a blank holder and blocks provided with ways, the forward ends of which curve downward, of feedslides which remove blanks from the holder and carry them into the descending portions of the ways, said descending portions being open, spring-wires 64 by which the blanks are retained in said ways, one of said wires being anchored in the lower end of the corresponding block, the upper end being free, the other wire being anchored in the top of the corresponding block the lower end being free and shorter, and an obliquely-moving spring-actuated block 71 which when thrown forward laps past the lower end of the corresponding way.

12. In a machine of the character described the combination with a blank -holder and blocks provided with ways the forward ends of which curve downward, and horizontal grooves in their inner faces leading inward from the ways, of feed-slides which remove blanks singly from the holder and carry them into the descending portions of the ways, said descending portions being open, spring-wires 64L in the open portions of said ways, one of said wires being anchored in the bottom of the corresponding block, the upper end being free and provided with a boss 99, the other wire being. anchored in the top of the corresponding block the lower end being free and shorter, and an obliquely-moving spring-actuated block '71 which in its forward position laps past the lower end of the way, said boss and spring-actuated block acting to retain the ends of the blanks in the grooves.

13. In a machine of the character described the combination with a blank holder, ways leading therefrom and retaining-fingers, of feed-slides having shoulders which engage the lowest blank in the holder and carry it to the retaining-fingers and other shoulders which engage a blank held by the retaining-fingers and carry it forward in the ways.

14. In a machine of the character described the combination with a blank-holder, ways the forward ends of which curve downward and retaining-fingers, of feed-slides having shoulders which engage the lowest blank in the holder and carry it to the retaining-fingers, and other shoulders which engage a blank held by the retaining-fingers and carry it into the curved portion of the ways.

15. In a machine of the character described the combination with a blank-holder, ways which are provided with deepened portions terminating rearwardly in shoulders 82, and retaining-fingers, of feed-slides having shoulders which engage the lowest blank in the holder and carry it to the retaining-fingers by which it is held against backward movement and pressed into the deepened portion of the ways, and other shoulders which engage a blank at the retaining-fingers and carry it forward in the ways.

16. In a machine of the character described the combination with a blank-holder, ways leading therefrom the forward ends of which curve downward and are open, and a springwire and spring-actuated block in the open portion of the ways, of feed-slides having shoulders which engage the lowest blank in the holder and carry it to the retainingfingers and other shoulders which engage a blank held by the retaining-fingers and carry it into the curved portion of the ways and plungers which then engage the blank and carry it into position to be operated upon where it is held by the spring-wire and the spring-actuated block.

17. In a machine of the character described the combination with a fixed die and means for retaining a blank in position to be operated upon, of a movable die which coacts with the fixed die to form a portion of the blank and then hold it rigidly in place, means for positively actuating said movable die, an independently-acting die also coacting with the fixed die which forms the other portion of the blank, means for positively actuating the last-mentioned movable die, and means for holding the first-mentioned movable die in place while the last-mentioned movable die is acting.

18. In a machine of the character described, the combination with a fixed die and inclependent movable dies, of mechanism for positively causing said movable dies to act successively, whereby a blank is partly formed and is held firmly gripped between one movable die and the fixed die while the other movable die is completing the formation of the article, means being provided for holding the first-acting movable die while the second die is acting.

19. In a machine of the character described the combination with a fixed die, and independently-acting movable dies, the first of which to act is provided with an extension 7 6, of blank-feeding mechanism and an obliquelymoving spring-actuated block which laps past the end of the fixed die in front of a blank when in position to be operated upon and which is engaged and forced to its retracted position by the forward movement of the first movable die.

20. In a machine of the character described the combination with a fixed die and successively-acting movable dies, the first of which to act is provided with an extension 7 6, of feeding mechanism, blocks having ways in which the blanks are carried into position to be operated upon, grooves in said blocks leading inward from the ends of the ways, and adapted to receive the ends of the blanks, a spring-wire which retains one end of the blank in the corresponding groove, and a spring-actuated obliquely-moving block which retains the other end of the blank in the corresponding groove and is pressed backward by the extension of the first movable die when the latter moves forward.

21. In a machine of the character described the combination with a fixed die and successively-acting movable dies, of a blank-holder, ways leading therefrom and having downwardly-curved ends, retaining-fingers, feedslides which carry blanks from the holder to the retaining-fingers and carry blanks from the retaining-fingers into the descending portion of the ways, plungers which press the blanks downward into position to be operated upon and means for retaining the blanks until the first movable die has acted.

22. In a machine of the character described the combination with dies, a blank-holder,

ways leading therefrom and having down-' wardly-curved ends and feed-slides by which the blanks are carried from the holder into the descending portion of the ways, of plungers by which the blanks are placed in position to be operated upon, a cross-piece secured to the plunger and carrying a guide 112, a stripper adapted to reciprocate in the guide, a lever pivoted to one end of the cross-piece, links connecting the ends of said lever respectively to the stripper and to a fixed portion of the machine, and means for reciprocating the cross-piece and the plungers, whereby the stripper is caused to move upward and downward with the plungers and to move faster than the plungers.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY L. BRADLEY. Witnesses:

A. M. \VoosTER, S. W. ATHERTON. 

